


this soul of mine will never die

by imalivebecauseirondad



Series: coming back to you [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Because I refuse to let him die, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Post-Canon Fix-It, in a weird way, references to IM3, tony comes back to life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:09:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24062641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imalivebecauseirondad/pseuds/imalivebecauseirondad
Summary: When Tony opens his eyes, he's surprised to find that he's not dead. This lead to the realization that he doesn't feel any pain, and that he still has his arm. He decides to ignore this in favour of observing his surroundings.I should look around, he decides, and he starts walking. After a while, he hears a noise, and heads toward it. He sees a familiar head of red hair and grins."Agent Romanoff," Tony calls. "You miss me?"
Relationships: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark
Series: coming back to you [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735963
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	this soul of mine will never die

**Author's Note:**

> i refuse to let Tony die, and i was awake at 4 in the morning- this is the result. i hope you enjoy!

" _And I...am...Iron Man._ "

* * *

When Tony opens his eyes, he's surprised to find that he's not dead. This lead to the realization that he doesn't feel any pain, and that he still has his arm. He decides to ignore this in favour of observing his surroundings.

He's in a large, white room with windows on the wall. It seems to stretch on endlessly. Tony looks out of the window to see the rough surface of an unfamiliar planet. 

_I should look around,_ he decides, and he starts walking. After a while, he hears a noise, and heads toward it. He sees a familiar head of red hair and grins.

"Agent Romanoff," Tony calls. "You miss me?"

Natasha whirls around, surprise painted across her face. "Tony?"

"In the flesh." He walks over to her, all casual, and pulls her into a hug. "Good to see you, Nat."

"Did we win?" she asks, hope evident in her eyes, which is a surprise. Tony's never seen her this open with anyone before.

"We won," he confirms, and Natasha lets out a laugh.

"Tell me everything," she demands, so he does. He tells her about Thanos coming, about the dusted being back, about their epic entrance, how Steve could lift up Mjolnir, and finally, about how he snapped. "Oh, god."

There's a slight pause in their conversation, and he takes a moment to look her over. She looks happy, peaceful, the lines on her face gone. 

"What do you see, when you look out the window?" she asks, startling him. Tony looks out the nearest one, confused.

"I don't know- a planet I've never been to." Natasha sighs, a wistful smile crossing her face when she looks out.

"It looks like the Compound, for me," she tells him. "I'm dead, Tony. I'm never going back. But you- I think there's a chance you can go back, and-and be with Pepper and Morgan and the rest of your family."

"What?" he breathes, the news hitting him like a punch to the stomach. He doesn't want to believe her- can't _dare_ to hope, because if he does, and then he gets let down, it'll hurt even more than it does right now. "Are you serious?"

Natasha smiles at him softly. "Yeah. There was some other people here, before. I guess they died in the battle. None of them saw the planet- they all saw the place they loved the most, the place they called home. _No one_ saw a planet."

Tony lets out a disbelieving laugh. "God, I hope you're right, Nat. How do I- you know, go back?"

Natasha takes his hand, pressing their palms together. "You've done so much for us, Tony. You deserve to live. It's time for me to return the favour. Tell everyone I'm okay, alright?"

"Sure thing, Nat." Tony agrees. "I'm gonna miss you."

She offers him a bittersweet smile, and then he feels the need to close his eyes. He gives Natasha one last smile, before he gives in.

Everything went dark.

* * *

He wakes up on a couch in a garage, and looks around. It's familiar, but he can't understand why. Then someone hurries down and inside, and Tony recognizes the place.

"Tony?" Harley Keener breathes, staring at him with disbelieving eyes. "What- but, you're...dead. You-you snapped- there was-"

"Breathe, kid," Tony interrupts, heading over to him. "I'm real, kid, and I'm starving. So how about a sandwich, huh?"

Harley laughs tearfully, and then he has an armful of sobbing teenager. He runs a hand through the kid's curls, murmuring soft reassurances, telling him he's _alive,_ he's _here,_ and he's not leaving again.

Finally, after a long time, Harley pulls away, wiping his eyes. Tony offers him a tissue, which he gladly accepts, before pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're such an asshole," Harley mutters. "For making us think you were dead."

"I'm sorry, kid," Tony says, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Harley leans into him a bit.

"It's fine, I guess. You're here now, aren't you?" Harley looks up at him, blue eyes shining. "How'd you come back, anyway?"

So Tony tells him about the dream-like experience he'd had, and then they talk about random stuff in general, before Tony decides to send a message to Pepper. Before he calls, he side-eyes Harley. "You know what's going through my head right now?" he asks, remembering the last time he'd come here. "Where's my sandwich?"

Harley laughs, and then Tony laughs too, and he thinks, _Yeah, this is good._

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](https://a-cannibalistic-elephant.tumblr.com/) if you want a whole lot of tony stark content


End file.
